Talk:Tom Matzzie

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Last week John Podesta, a longtime Democratic operative who runs the Center for American Progress, and Anna Burger, a high-ranking official at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) formed a soft-money 527 group called the "Fund for America." Burger is also vice chair of the Democracy Alliance, wealthy liberal funders of various Democratic Party aligned organizations.

In February, 2008 journalists Matt Taibbi analyzed how the MoveOn-led Americans Against Escalation in Iraq has become "a political tool for the Democrats — one operated from inside the Beltway and devoted primarily to targeting Republicans. ... At the forefront of the groups are [former MoveOn lobbyist] Tom Matzzie and Brad Woodhouse... [M]uch of the anti-war group's leadership hails from a consulting firm called Hildebrand Tewes Consulting — whose partners Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes served as staffers for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. ... This is the kind of conflict of interest that would normally be an embarrassment in the activist community. ... The really tragic thing about the Democratic surrender on Iraq is that it's now all but guaranteed that the war will be off the table during the presidential campaign. Once again — it happened in 2002, 2004 and 2006 — the Democrats have essentially decided to rely on the voters to give them credit for being anti-war, despite the fact that, for all the noise they've made to the contrary, in the end they've done nothing but vote for war and cough up every dime they've been asked to give, every step of the way." 

In a February 9, 2008, blog posting on The Nation's website, professor and activist Tom Hayden wrote: "Tom Matzzie, leader of Americas most well-financed anti-Iraq organization, has resigned his position and dissolved the organization, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq." However,after posting this blog Hayden the wrote: "Minutes after this story was posted, Mattzie sent an e-mail to me claiming 'the story is wrong.' He said, 'We haven't quit,' but are in transition. But the story is based on Mattzie's own February 7 e-mail response to a question from me: 'I've essentially quit anti-war organizing and gone into politics.' "

Jonathan Weisman and Michael D. Shear Obama looks to control message, originally in the Washington Post, May 14, 2008.

On November 11, 2007, the Washington Post reported that MoveOn's Tom Matzzie has been hired to run an AAEI spin-off called Campaign to Defend America, "an independent money machine that will rival or eclipse what they created in 2004, when donors poured millions into two key outside-the-party organizations -- America Coming Together and the Media Fund. ... Those familiar with overall Democratic fundraising plans for 2008 say that everything is still in a very nascent stage, but party heavyweights are clearly on the march -- setting up various organizations that may be integrated into a larger uber-fundraising effort, perhaps under Mattzie's group.

On May 14, 2008, the Washington Post reported that "Tom Matzzie, a leader of the liberal group MoveOn.org, teamed recently with David Brock, once a conservative journalist who is now a liberal media critic, to form Progressive Media USA, pledging to raise $40 million and lead the attack on McCain. The group has yet to air an ad.

Lisa AT PRWatch.org